Musical Treats: Hallelujah by Noah Aronson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9zleJ1L68Y
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat: Bringing Repair: a d’var Torah for #ReproShabbat
Please follow the link below to read Rabbi Barenblat’s sensitive blog on the Jewish perspective of reproductive rights:
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z’l: Mishpatim
God’s Nudge: In Mishpatim, we read the details for the general principles of the Assert Hadibrot / “Ten Utterances”. Rabbi Sacks comments that the first full law code in the Torah begins with the law concerning treatment of a Hebrew servant, and asks, “why this law”? The Israelites have just escaped from centuries of slavery in Egypt; God knew it was going to happen,
Hazzan Azi Schwarz: Bring Them Home
Last week, Rabbi Barenblat wrote about habits and grooves. Pharaoh had hardened his heart so many times that it “just stayed that way”. Exodus teaches us to examine our habits closely, like shoes—the shoes that God told Moses to remove “because of holy ground”. Habits—the right ones—need to be cultivated, such as little acts of kindness. Please follow the link to her blog below to read this article:
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: Yitro Deed and Creed
Rabbi Sacks writes that the covenant in Yitro is not the first Divine covenant; there was the covenant with Noah and another one with Abraham. However, these were not reciprocal. At Sinai, God wanted the covenant to be mutual; God wants the liberated people—formerly enslaved—to worship freely. This is a powerful concept.
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat: Bo The Habit of Extending a Hand
Last week, Rabbi Barenblat wrote about habits and grooves. Pharaoh had hardened his heart so many times that it “just stayed that way”. Exodus teaches us to examine our habits closely, like shoes—the shoes that God told Moses to remove “because of holy ground”. Habits—the right ones—need to be cultivated, such as little acts of kindness. Please follow the link to her blog below to read this article:
Rabbi Cantor Eva Robbins: Holding Onto the Light
Rabbi Cantor Robbins writes a beautiful article about maintaining the spark of light from Chanukah, for the weeks after the chag has ended: The question is to whether we can hold onto the light, but will we hold onto it?
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat: Vaera 5784
Rabbi Barenblat addresses the text which indicates that the Israelites were impatient and crushed by despair. She quotes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said that to make justice a reality for all requires hard work; we cannot sit back and wait for it to happen. The world will not magically go back to pre-pandemic normal; we have to work.
Rick Lupert: Exodus 12:34 Grab the Dough, We Gotta Go
Rabbi Barenblat addresses the text which indicates that the Israelites were impatient and crushed by despair. She quotes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said that to make justice a reality for all requires hard work; we cannot sit back and wait for it to happen. The world will not magically go back to pre-pandemic normal; we have to work.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z/l: Bo: The March of Folly
Rabbi Sacks compares Pharaoh’s refusal to make the right decision, even though the outcome is obvious. Pharaoh undoubtedly felt he was being strong, in contrast to his advisors, who saw him leading his people to disaster. He remains an enduring symbol of a failure to listen to his own advisors.